Alex Gonzalez attempts to approximate Yuni Betancourt’s range at shortstop.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. FAN Projection Targets: Pujols, Reyes, Wilson
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Chicago (NL) Television

Assorted Headlines
All the nerd that’s fit to print.

Brewers Sign Shortstop Gonzalez
This may or may not receive a longer write-up in these pages soon, but, as one who lives in Wisconsin, I’m very happy to announce that the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to terms Thursday with shortstop Alex Gonzalez on a one-year contract (MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reporting). The terms of the deal haven’t been released, but, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes, Gonzalez made only $2.5 million last season with Atlanta. The deal reportedly includes a vesting option for 2013. Gonzalez is notable for not being Yuniesky Betancourt.

Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson have both been signed by the Angels. Our writers are currently crafting crack analysis of both transactions.

What do you call a pitcher for the Pirates? Erik Bed-arrrrr-d.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Dominican Winter League
3. Prospecting: BA Lists for Arizona, Colorado, and Los Angeles (NL)

Assorted Headlines
Pittsburgh Signs Bedard
The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Erik Bedard to a one-year, $4.5 million deal on Wednesday, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports. The left-hander, who turns 32 this winter, has had injury problems basically every year since 2008, but has been above average when he has played, posting a career xFIP- of 88. This now gives the Pirates a starting rotation along these lines (2011 xFIP- in parentheses): 1. Bedard (88) / 2. Charlie Morton (106) / 3. James McDonald (116) / 4. Jeff Karstens (104) / 5. Kevin Correia (114). Hrm.

Read the rest of this entry »

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Graph: Vertical Fastball Movement Vs. Ground-Ball Percentage
2. Projecting: ZiPS for Minnesota
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Chicago (AL) Television

Graph: Vertical Fastball Movement Vs. Ground-Ball Percentage
Yesterday (Tuesday), site founder David Appelman added Pitch Fx leaderboards to the site. I’m not lying when I say I wanna make, like, a thousand graphs of that data and then take each one of those graphs out individually to a romantic dinner or Will Smith concert.

As mystic philosopher Lao Tzu once said, though, “A journey of a thousand graphs starts with one, uh, graph.” So we’re starting with this one graph right here.

For this one, I made a sweet custom report including the vertical movement (or, z-movement) for two-seamers (FT) and sinkers (SI) — along with the overall ground-ball percentages — for every starter from 2011 (with more than 10 innings). I was curious as to how well vertical movement on those pitches correlates with ground-ball percentages.

In fact, the correlation was much higher than I anticipated. There’s probably some confirmation bias here — that is, pitchers with betters sinkers or two-seamers probably throw those pitches more often — but, speaking anecdotally, there seemed to be a pretty reasonable spread in usage.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dmitri Young + Japan = Not an Actual Math Problem

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Venezuelan Winter League
3. Prospecting: John Sickels’ Top-20 List for Los Angeles (NL)

Assorted Headlines
Minnesota Claims Shortstop Florimon from Baltimore
The Twins claimed shortstop Pedro Florimon from the Orioles on Monday and placed him on the 40-man roster, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports. Florimon, who turns 25 on December 10th, slashed .267/.344/.396 (.336 BABIP) in 520 plate appearances at Double-A Bowie this year. The internet indicates that he profiles as above-average defender at short, but also that he’s mistake-prone.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Hilton Anatole, site of this year’s Winter Meetings, has gargoyles on the inside.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Australian Baseball League
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Boston Television

Assorted Headlines
Winter Meetings Begin in Dallas
If, for instance, you’d lost power, like, three weeks ago and have just now gotten it back and the first site to which you pointed your browser is FanGraphs, then allow me to inform you that (a) Jose Reyes signed with the Marlins and (b) the Winter Meetings begin today at Dallas’s Hilton Anatole.

Read the rest of this entry »

Who’s the rat, you guys?

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. A Brief Note re: the Tardiness of Offseason Notes
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Dominican Winter League
3. Projecting: ZiPS for San Francisco

A Brief Note re: the Tardiness of Offseason Notes
Offseason Notes is available each morning at approximately 10am ET — which is why it’s entirely understandable if (that?) the reader has spent much of the day wringing his hands anxiously, curious about the whereabouts of said Notes.

Let it be known, first of all, that the author is in good health. Let it be known, secondly, that he (i.e. the author) has recently made an actual friend in his new-ish hometown of Madison, WI, and stayed up later than usual Thursday night watching a Blue-ray edition of The Departed — that is, a film I had never previously seen on a format I had never previously utilized.

In conclusion, a question: who and/or what is the rat?

Read the rest of this entry »

How switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, eligible for December’s Rule 5 draft, appears to opposing batters.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Venezuelan Winter League
3. Prospecting: John Sickels’ Top-20 List for Toronto

Assorted Headlines
All the nerd that’s fit to print.

Some Rule 5 Eligible Players
Baseball America’s John Manuel has provided analysis of the most eligible of the Rule 5-eligible players. The piece is subscriber-only, but includes two names that ought to be familiar to FanGraphs readers: outfielder Andrew Lambo (acquired by Pittsburgh in the Octavio Dotel trade) and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte (who has produced exclusively excellent numbers in the minors). Also available in the draft, which occurs December 8th, is outfielder Jiwan James, whom BA actually just named the ninth-overall prospect in the Philadelphia organization.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte: kinda, sorta baseball’s top prospect.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Projecting: Some Notable OLIVER Projections
2. Projecting: ZiPS for Seattle
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Baltimore Television

Projecting: Some Notable OLIVER Projections
Brian Cartwright’s OLIVER projections are now available at The Hardball Times. Some minor technical issues might remain with the functionality, although I personally have had no problems.

As I did last year, I’ve assembled below what can most accurately be described as a “Kinda, Sorta” Prospect List — in that it’s simply a list of the top-10 rookie-eligible batters sorted purely by OLIVER’s projected 2012 WAR. (Projections assume a full MLB season.)

Note that Jesus Montero, Mike Moustakas, Jason Kipnis, Todd Frazier, and Ryan Lavarnway — i.e. all players who both (a) made their major-league debuts in 2011 and (b) played decently while doing so — were all on this same list last season.

A Kinda, Sorta Prospect List

1. Starling Marte, OF, PIT
2. Jedd Gyorko, 3B, SDN
3. Derek Norris, C, WAS
4. Andrelton Simmons, SS, ATL
5. Adam Eaton, OF, ARI
6. Anthony Rendon, 3B, WAS
7. Matt Carpenter, 3B, STL
8. Jaff Decker, LF, SDN
9. Brian Dozier, SS, MIN
10. Joe Panik, SS, SFN

Read the rest of this entry »

The Baltimore Orioles wanna Schoop.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. Prospecting: John Sickels’ Top-20 List for Baltimore
3. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Atlanta Television

Assorted Headlines
Twins Signs Seven
Matt Eddy’s most recent Minor League Transaction report for Baseball America reveals that Minnesota has been quite active of late in signing minor leaguers. Almost all the signings have purpose and upside: outfielder Wilkin Ramirez has had contact issues but has both power and speed, is only 26, and can likely play an average center field; former Cincinnati prospect, right-hander Daryl Thompson, is also just 26 and has a history of success; former Rocky Sam Deduno has had problems with control, but has also posted ground-ball rates in the high-50s throughout his minor-league career.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Braves signed a number of players on Tuesday.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Offseason Notes.

1. Assorted Headlines
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Dominican Winter League
3. Prospecting: John Sickels’ Top-20 List for Houston

Assorted Headlines
Mets Sign Pitcher-Turned-Outfielder Loewen
The New York Mets have signed outfielder Adam Loewen to a minor-league deal, reports Matt Eddy of Baseball America. After pitching in parts of three major-league seasons with Baltimore, Loewen converted to hitting in 2009 and made his second major-league debut this season for Toronto, slashing .188/.297/.313 (.278 BABIP), 73 wRC+ in 37 plate appearances. Loewen, 27, made most of his minor-league appearances in right, but split time pretty evenly between right and center in his brief major-league stint.

Read the rest of this entry »